Life of JL V2.0

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

This must be big enough of a concern for this little airline that services the Mountain region of US... enough to put it as a section in their baggage policy;

Restricted Carry-on Items:Traveling with food or gifts is a bigger challenge these days. Everyone has favorite foods from home that they want to bring with them, or items from their destination that they want to bring back home.

Not sure about what you can and can't bring through the checkpoint? Here's a list of liquid, aerosol and gel items that you should put in your checked bag, ship ahead, or leave at home.

When you miss a turn in Golden Gate Park, lots can happen. Mainly you end up doing circles, run into dead ends and heaven forbid, you end up running into an Interstate Route.

I basically re-traced the route we took on Xmas Day - its one I know well enough and I know it's largely in a park, so that means cars are more aware of pedestrians right? I was wrong on that one... out of towners are not used to looking out for bikes.

And there I was, coming back from my ride... I missed a turn at the Polo Fields and ended up on Lincoln Way.

Friday, December 25, 2009

I recovered pretty good from Ride #1, and since it's Christmas long weekend (and a Merry Christmas to you!) I had the opportunity to go for another ride today... this time through Golden Gate Park, from Haight to Ocean Beach.

Its a ride I have done a number of times before on the MTB, and I distinctly remember that my hands hurt more than my arse... and why? There is a stretch of road that's very cut up and it's bump-bump-bump for about 1/4 mile. Through the bumps I tend to stand on the paddles so the bottom gets a little relief. But through this stretch I literally death grip the handle bars. Right now I can say my hands and arms are more sore than the lower half of bod.

I worked on changing gears today... and I did improve. For starters I now know to soften the gears for a hill climb, I need to push the metal and the black plastic shifters. I know, in 5 months, I will look at what I wrote and ask myself WTF (re description of shifting gears)... I mean, at this point in time I get confused with what's up/ down. I get by via remembering what I need to do dependent on the road situation.

Well today's ride is a bit smoother than yesterday... oh except the bit about getting chains crossed... that's the next lesson.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

I decided to go pick up some coffee beans from Peet's after the bike shop - which we were out of and no caffeine makes J1 and J2 very grumpy. The nearest Peet's is just at the end of the Panhandle, conveniently the bike shop is just on the other side of the 'handle, and there's a bike path pretty much the whole way.

I know riding to the shop is kinda like blah but you know what... it's the first solo ride I've done on a SF roadway. It wasn't too bad, other than that you have to weave pass transients pushing trolleys and some more aggressive riders (for heaven's sake, I was ONLY going to the shops).

By the time I locked my bike up, J1 called to see where I was since it's been 20 mins since I left the bike shop (we live 5 mins from American Cyclery, and hopefully he was calling to check that I wasn't a crumbled heap on the side of the road vs. seeing how the bike was). He met me at Peet's, couple of mins later, on his zoomie wheels.

He suggested we go for a little spin, sure I said. Got to remember... J1's idea of a 'little spin' is not that little. I should also get used to this idea of little since it's still very little vs. 175mi. And ALWAYS have water on me.

From Peet's (Broderick @ Oak), we headed up to Laurel Heights, then cut across the Richmond into Presidio. I had no idea where on earth was he planning to go (maybe to Marina?) but I had to protest after we reached the Presidio Gates. Legs were giving way. EEK. We came back via GG Park and practiced gear changing on some smaller hills nearby. Home pretty shortly after.

Prior to the last year, my 'biking' experience involved a BMX when I was 10, and then a bike tour around Amsterdam in 2004... I probably didn't have the best 'concentration' at that point in time, and you get the idea. I almost fell into a canal.

Oh after the canal incident, I tried getting on a bike one more time... as a tourist in 05, with Blazing Saddles bike rental at San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf. I rode to Sausalito, with great difficulty especially since I have NO IDEA what the gear shifters do. I think I took the entire 3 hour they said I'd need.

So what on earth am I doing... thinking I can do the MS Society's Waves to Wine charity ride? All 175mi (282km) of it. But here are the top 5 reasons I'm doing it...

1) I could really lose 20kgs/ 40'ish lbs.

2) Over past 2 yrs my main sport has been dragon boating, which is a very anaerobic exercise. Since I hate running more than I hate bikes, I thought it might be good to cross train via setting a distance riding goal.Oh and the ride is in September... so lots of time to train (though I'd hope to be able to do some 'Centuries' i.e. 100mi/ 161km races by May).

3) Biking seems to be the kind of thing I should be able to fit into the schedule... I mean, it's a mode of transport, and it's actually shorter for me to bike to work from new house vs. public transport

4) I can do with more tone, body wise

5) Other friends have done this ride and all agree it's by far one of the prettiest ride around, also I already have a friend, C, signed up to do this with me

J1 was supportive. He hasn't decided whether he's doing W-to-W with C and I, but J and I have started heading out and practicing hill climbs - in my case, it's called learning to change gears properly.

Through a series of events - I bought a new bike. It's a 2010 Specialized Dolce Elite Triple, in silver with white trim (it is the only colour it came in). It's a pretty darn fancy bike - by my standards - and Mark from American Cyclery at first didn't put this bike in the lineup of bikes I was test riding... but by my 3rd test ride (3rd bike), he thought it was good for education reasons to try a bike with Tiagra shifters. Unbeknown to him, I knew a little about 'em before heading into the shops... it helps with J1 has those on his bike, and that I have done quite a bit of reading.

I did check with Mark and asked whether it was too good of a bike for me... but he consider it as an entry level bike, and I know he was reluctant to get me to test ride it. But I also knew... those shifters were going to feel pretty darn good vs. the click and flick thing the Sora offered.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Right now I'm having a really hard time making sense of things. What I thought would be simple - like being dependable for someone, and expecting the same vice versa - is now a lot more grey then I expect it to be. Was I wrong in expecting the unconditional? Was I wrong to expect respect and support? Was I wrong to expect compassion and understanding - especially when it was a fuckin (small) mistake? Why do I get the feeling that they're looking/ listening and then thinking what I'm saying is all BS?

Unhealthy all round and I need resolution. I can't go to work crying anymore.

Damn, didn't someone tell me the grey areas will become bigger and more confusing as you get older?